Welling Not Superman in JLA Flick

In an excellent interview with DC’s Main Man in Hollywood Gregory Novek, Voices from Krypton ask why Welling won’t be Superman in the JLA movie.

VOICES FROM KRYPTON: And then there are all of those Internet rumors about Tom Welling being cast as Superman…GREGORY NOVECK: Not happening, if for no other reason than it would just confuse the issue.VOICES FROM KRYPTON: And if that’s the case, I wonder why they wouldn’t just use Brandon Routh again.GREGORY NOVECK: I think part of it is that the character is larger than the actor. If you look at Batman, Superman and Justice League as separate franchises, if all of a sudden you have Brandon in it but you don’t have Christian, then what movie is it? I think you have to have it stand on its own. I’m just speculating, but if I’m the director of this movie, I don’t want to have to be too careful of another director’s iteration of a character. If I use his actor, then I’m kind of beholden to it. What if George Miller hired Brandon and Christian, but he wanted Brandon to really play Superman tougher and wanted Christian to show more humanity, then all of a sudden you’re entering very strange creative territory. The same is true of using Tom Welling. I think ultimately it’s a better movie if you have different actors to keep the iterations of the characters distinct. The example I’ve been using is, is it the Mike Mignolia Batman versus the Frank Miller Batman? It’s still Batman, they’re just different versions of it. I think when we start to open up the films with that kind of lens, where you can say, “These are all Superman, but they’re different versions” – even from Tom Welling to Brandon Routh, right? – that’s pretty cool.

Head over to the website for more on why it’s a good idea for Tom Welling to move on, and what role Novek has in what gets put into the movies, and what doesn’t.

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The Author

Stephen Schleicher

Stephen Schleicher began his career writing for the Digital Media Online community of sites, including Digital Producer and Creative Mac covering all aspects of the digital content creation industry. He then moved on to consumer technology, and began the Coolness Roundup podcast. A writing fool, Stephen has freelanced for Sci-Fi Channel's Technology Blog, and Gizmodo. Still longing for the good ol' days, Stephen launched Major Spoilers in July 2006, because he is a glutton for punishment.

You can follow him on Twitter @MajorSpoilers and tell him your darkest secrets...

This guy has a point and I don’t have a problem with the multiple heroes. After all, we can buy that Micheal Keaton, Val Kilmer and Clooney are all supposed to be the same Batman. But I also agree with Mark about the type of actors they’re picking. No offense to Brody, who is fine, but are we really supposed to buy Seth Coen as Superman? (He might be okay as Flash….)

Okay so basically that picture of tom welling was taken when he was in his twenties playing a fourteen year old high school freshman. They needed the makeup and airbrushing in order to play in to the idea that this is a teenager even though he wasn’t. Also in the off season he grows a beard and looks his age. And that’s an old picture.

Tom Welling saved Smallville for nine years! Jor’el could come back and make everyone think that clark and Superman don’t look alike! Now we can have the glasses work. Wake up WB. And smell the coffee!

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